(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 13 - The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) criticized in a dossier published on Friday the treatment and conditions of detention of foreign nationals held at pre-removal centres (CPRs) in Italy.
    The dossier in particular denounced alleged cases of ill-treatment and excessive use of force by police officers and criticized the "widespread practice" of giving migrants unprescribed psychotropic drugs.
    The CPT's findings included "very poor material conditions, the absence of a regime of activities, the disproportionate security approach, the variable quality of healthcare provision and the lack of transparency of the management of CPRs by private contractors", "calling into question" the application of such a model by Italy in an extra-territorial setting, such as in Albania, the report noted.
    The dossier was compiled after visits carried out by CPT officials between April 2 and 12 this year at four out of Italy's nine CPRs, including the pre-removal centres in Via Corelli in Milan, Gradisca d'Isonzo, Palazzo San Gervasio in Potenza and Ponte Galeria in Rome.
    The CPT said it "found several cases of alleged physical ill-treatment and excessive use of force by police officers of foreign nationals detained in the CPRs visited", usually following a "disturbance or act of vandalism in the centres".
    The dossier also highlighted "the absence of any rigorous and independent monitoring of such interventions by the police and the lack of accurate recording of injuries sustained by detained persons or of any assessment as to their origin".
    The Committee criticized what it described as "the widespread practice" of administering "unprescribed psychotropic drugs diluted in water" to migrants held at the centres that it "documented at the Potenza CPR".
    Moreover, it denounced "the practice of transporting foreign nationals to a CPR while handcuffed in a police vehicle without being offered food and water during journeys of several hours", saying it "should be reviewed".
    Other shortcomings identified "relate to the poor quality of food provided to detained persons and the shortage of stocks of toiletries", said the dossier.
    Speaking about the activities offered at repatriation centres, the body said CPR contractors invested "only minimal efforts to offer a few activities of a purposeful nature", adding that "the CPT noted that several criminal investigations against the management of various CPRs had been opened".
    "The CPT gained the distinct impression that the high rate of critical events and violence recorded inside the CPRs was a direct consequence of the disproportionate security restrictions, the lack of individual risk assessments of foreign nationals, and the fact that detained persons were in effect provided with nothing to occupy their time", according to the dossier, which called for "a full range of purposeful activities to be introduced, particularly in light of the extension of the period of detention up to a maximum of 18 months".
    As part of legislation approved last year, migrants can be held in pre-expulsion CPR centres for up to 18 months but can post a 'bail' of 5,000 euros in order to avert being detained.
    The report also called for improved access to legal counsel for foreign nationals.
    "The CPT recommends that access to a lawyer be improved.
    "Further, foreign nationals held in so-called locali idonei - holding areas in National Police Headquarters (Questure) in ports, airports and border crossings -, should be afforded the necessary safeguards such as information on their rights, access to a lawyer and notification of their detention to a third party".
    Overall, the CPT said it was "highly critical of the physical layout and design of CPRs and in particular the carceral environment, which could be considered as similar to those observed by the Committee in the detention units accommodating prisoners under special regime", citing as examples " triple metal mesh screens on windows, and cage-like outdoor facilities".
    Later on Friday, interior ministry sources said the dossier was based on "partial and incomplete information", recalling that the Italian government on November 16 had already provided detailed observations to respond to it.
    The same sources stressed how all health provisions for foreign nationals held at pre-repatriation centres, including the administration of medicines, are prescribed by doctors and that medical facilities are also present within CPRs.
    They also said they were unaware of medication being improperly given to guests, "a circumstance which has never been the object of sentences issued by magistrates". (ANSA).